Jay POV
The next morning, I was having the best sleep of my life.
My blanket was warm.
My pillow was soft.
And for once, my stomach wasn't trying to kill me.
I smiled and buried my face deeper into the pillow.
Then I felt someone poking my cheek.
I ignored it.
"Jay," Keifer said.
"No," I said.
"Jay."
"No."
"Wake up."
"I quit school."
There was silence.
Then I felt my blanket disappearing.
My eyes flew open.
"HEY!"
Keifer was standing beside the bed with my blanket in his hands.
"Good morning," he said.
I glared at him.
"You are evil."
"You have school."
"I don't."
"You do."
"I don't."
"You do."
I groaned dramatically and fell back onto the bed.
Keifer crossed his arms.
"Get up."
"No."
"Jay."
"Five more minutes."
"You said that ten minutes ago."
I froze.
Then my eyes widened.
"WAIT!"
I sat up immediately.
"What time is it?"
"Seven thirty."
"Oh shit!"
"Language."
"I'm late!"
I jumped off the bed and ran toward the bathroom.
Behind me, I heard Keifer laughing.
"I hate you!" I shouted.
"No, you don't!" Keifer shouted back.
Unfortunately, he was right.
Twenty minutes later, I rushed downstairs while fixing my hair.
The moment I entered the dining room, I froze.
The table was covered in food.
Pancakes.
Eggs.
Toast.
Sandwiches.
Fruit.
And somehow, chocolate milk.
I stared at it.
Then I stared at Keifer.
Then back at the food.
Then back at Keifer.
"Marry me."
Keigan immediately choked on his juice.
Keifer nearly dropped his coffee.
Keiren started laughing so hard he almost fell off his chair.
"What?" I asked innocently.
"Nothing," Keifer said.
I sat down and immediately grabbed a sandwich.
Then another.
And another.
Keigan stared.
Keiren stared.
Keifer stared.
"What?" I asked.
Keigan pointed at my plate.
"That's your third sandwich."
I swallowed.
"Evidence?"
"It's literally in your hand," Keigan said.
"Circumstantial evidence."
Keiren immediately pointed at me.
"Ate also ate the last chocolate yesterday!"
I gasped dramatically.
"Betrayal."
"It's true," Keiren said.
"You were supposed to be on my side."
"I'm on the side of justice."
I stared at him.
Then I slowly looked at Keifer.
"Can we return him?"
"No," Keifer said.
Everyone started laughing.
By the time breakfast ended, we were already running late.
Which was completely Keiren's fault.
And definitely not mine.
Absolutely not mine.
Later – School
The moment Keifer and I entered the classroom, every head turned toward us.
Oh no.
I already knew that look.
Felix immediately stood up.
"The missing couple has arrived!"
The entire class burst into laughter.
I grabbed the nearest notebook.
"Sit down."
"No."
"Felix."
"No."
Rory pointed dramatically toward us.
"They were absent together."
Mayo nodded.
"Very suspicious."
Edrix nodded too.
"Extremely suspicious."
"There was nothing suspicious," Keifer said.
"Sure," Felix said.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Felix."
"Yes?"
"I know where you live."
Felix immediately sat down.
"Good morning to you too."
Before the teasing could continue, our teacher entered.
Everyone immediately rushed to their seats.
The room became quiet.
Too quiet.
The teacher looked around suspiciously.
Then she frowned.
"Why is Section E behaving today?"
The whole class froze.
Rory raised his hand.
"Character development, ma'am."
The teacher looked even more suspicious.
A few students started laughing.
Even I had to bite my lip to stop myself.
Then the teacher placed her books on the desk.
"I have an announcement."
The room became quiet again.
"You will be starting your Social Life Project."
Immediately, half the class groaned.
The teacher ignored them.
"You will work in groups and choose a social issue."
Then she started announcing the groups.
My attention immediately sharpened.
Please let me be with normal people.
For once.
Just once.
"Jay."
I looked up.
"Keifer."
Oh.
"Felix."
Never mind.
"Ci-N."
Okay.
"Drew."
I blinked.
Drew looked up from his desk.
Then looked back down again.
The teacher nodded.
"That will be one group."
Felix immediately grinned.
"We are doomed."
"I agree," Ci-N said.
And just like that, our project officially began.
The moment class ended, Felix immediately turned toward us.
"We need a topic," Felix said.
"We know," Ci-N said.
"We should do something easy," Felix said.
"We should do something meaningful," Ci-N said.
"We should do something that doesn't require effort," Felix said.
I nodded.
"I support Felix."
Ci-N looked disappointed.
Drew looked like he wanted to disappear.
Keifer was already laughing.
Then Ci-N placed his notebook on the table.
"Let's be serious."
"No," Felix said.
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
Before they could start fighting again, Drew quietly spoke.
"What about food waste?"
The table immediately became quiet.
I looked toward him.
Even Felix stopped talking.
Ci-N nodded slowly.
"That's actually a good idea."
Drew nodded.
"There is a lot of food wasted every day."
I could see he was thinking carefully.
Then he continued.
"Maybe we could focus on people who don't get enough food while others throw food away."
The table became silent again.
For a moment nobody joked.
Nobody laughed.
I noticed Keifer glance toward Drew.
Then Ci-N smiled.
"I like that idea."
"I do too," Keifer said.
I nodded.
"Me too."
Felix sighed dramatically.
"Fine."
Everyone laughed.
Then Felix pointed at me.
"Actually, Jay is the perfect person for this project."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Why?"
Felix pointed at my lunch box.
"Because if food disappears, you're always the first suspect."
I immediately grabbed a notebook.
"Run."
Felix stood up.
"HELP!"
The entire group burst into laughter.
Lunch Break
The moment lunch break started, Section E occupied three tables.
As usual.
And as usual—
Food appeared from nowhere.
Rory had chips.
Edrix had burgers.
Mayo had chicken.
Ci-N had homemade lunch.
Felix had fries.
And unfortunately for him—
I was sitting beside him.
Felix looked at me.
I looked at Felix.
Felix looked at his fries.
I looked at his fries.
Felix moved the fries away.
I looked offended.
"You don't trust me?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because you're you."
I gasped.
"That's discrimination."
Before Felix could answer, I stole three fries.
"JAY!"
"What?"
"YOU TOOK THEM!"
I pointed at Keifer.
"Maybe he did."
Keifer nearly choked on his drink.
"I was sitting here."
"Exactly."
"That doesn't even make sense."
"It makes sense to me."
Everyone started laughing.
Then Edrix pointed at my plate.
"Didn't you already bring food?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you eating Felix's?"
I blinked.
Then I looked at Felix.
Then I looked at my food.
Then back at Felix.
"Variety."
The table exploded.
Even Drew laughed.
Actually laughed.
I blinked.
Then smiled.
That was probably the first time I had seen him laugh like that.
Later
Before the last class ended, our teacher entered again.
"One more thing."
Everyone immediately groaned.
The teacher ignored us.
"This project will continue during the weekend."
The entire class froze.
"What?" Felix said.
"You will spend Saturday working on your project."
The classroom exploded.
"No!"
"Ma'am!"
"That's illegal!"
"Please reconsider!"
The teacher raised one hand.
Everyone became quiet.
Then she smiled.
"You must spend the whole day together."
The entire class stared at her.
I slowly turned toward my group.
Felix looked terrified.
Ci-N looked stressed.
Drew looked nervous.
Keifer looked completely relaxed.
Then Rory shouted from the back.
"Good luck, Jay!"
I threw a pencil at him.
Unfortunately, I missed.
Then Edrix stood up dramatically.
"We are either getting an A."
Felix nodded.
"Or getting arrested."
The entire classroom burst into laughter.
And somehow...
I had a feeling both were possible.
End of Chapter 9
Ashdres for real
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